So I bit the (pun unintended) bullet and snagged a Squier Bronco Bass.
These are “good but cheap” short-scale basses from Fender’s sub-brand, made in Indonesia. Their extremely low price – about $199 USD, $259 CAD – makes them a popular choice for beginners but their light weight has attracted lots of experienced players who prefer a smaller instrument.
Bronco guitars and basses have been in Fender’s lineup since the 1960s as a cheaper alternative to their Mustang equivalents, as a replacement for the older Musicmaster guitars.
They literally use the same body design for both guitars and basses, but the Broncos lack the “comfort curves” – the back carve or front arm bevel typical on more expensive Fenders.
Above: A vintage Bronco guitar (left) next to a Mustang bass. The Bronco’s bridge / vibrato unit was the least popular of Leo Fender’s many designs.
The Bronco bass’s one-piece pickguard is somewhere between a Strat and a P-Bass, vs. the Mustang’s outward-curved shape, and the controls and jack are mounted directly on it, vs. the Mustang’s separate metal control plate.
The Bronco doesn’t even have a real bass pickup – it’s actually a six-pole Strat guitar pickup under a closed cover, so the magnets don’t even align with the strings properly. Top it off with a cheap two-saddle bridge and you have something “good enough for students.”
Now, vintage Broncos are worth a mint, but these new Indonesian models are so inexpensive, they’ve become a really popular platform for modifications and customizations. That’s what I’m going to do with this one.
When I’m done, it’ll look a bit closer to this – with a 70s-style black-on-black look, three EMG HZ passive ‘rails’ pickups, a 5-way Strat-style switch, master volume and tone, and various other hardware improvements.
